Last week, I met over lunch with students from the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS). Our discussion covered a wide range of topics, including the need to train leaders to be mentors, relearning the nuances of training management, creating a centralized source for Army information and resources that could be filtered to fit a particular unit, and the future role for training at home station vs. at combat training centers.
First, thank you to each of these students for a lively and very candid discussion of what the U.S. Army’s direction should be for leadership training and training management.
Second, I want to extend this discussion beyond that classroom. What are your good ideas for Army training in 2015 and beyond? What needs to change – or stay the same? For SAMS and ILE students: Would you be willing to participate in an extended discussion/review of the Army’s training direction for 2015 and beyond? And if you haven’t seen this before, check out CAC-T SENDS training support thoughts on the Army Training Network (https://atn.army.mil). Also helpful: virtual simulators list, training aids and devices and MilGaming resources.
Col. Pat White, Deputy Commander
U.S. Army Combined Arms Center-Training
Col. Pat White, Deputy Commander of TRADOC’s Combined Arms Center-Training, thanks School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) students for their candid comments about ideas for revitalizing U.S. Army training in 2015 and beyond.
7 Comments on "Col. White: Please share your thoughts on leadership training/training management"
Sir,
I have been thinking about the right way to train the future for some time now. I know that at Ft Bliss a great deal of money, in the millions, is spent to develop/build a virtual reality traininig facility. I also know that this technology has been extensively used and trained on for years by non other than numerous SWAT training centers, the SEALs, SFOD-D as well as other special forces internationally. Although I understand the thought that nothing can replace realistic “live” training, there are simply too many scenarios that cannot be replicated without great difficulty in an actual touchable environment.
For that reason virtual training is not only proven relevant, it likely saves money in the long run and simplifies much training planning.
I do have another thought which I have not seen reflected much in the schoolhouse here (I am currently in ILE and will attend SAMS in a few months). I will explain.
I have been very impressed by many technology breakthroughs in the private sector, just a few weeks ago I read that google is releasing a set of sunglasses later this year that will bluetooth with your smart-phone. Presumably you can check your email, get the time, surf your facebook page while lying near motionless on the beach (it will be speech and subtle head-tilt motion controlled). Also, you may read about how investing firms hire the latest whiz-kids from MIT in order to gain a 2% information edge on their competitors to trade faster using obscure but usable data which had been (in the past), too time consuming to utilize.
Lets not even mention how quickly the Apple corporation and its ilk have been developing apps for everything under the sun and where voice-to-text technology was hot-stuff a year ago, you can now talk to your phone or Magnavox TV to get directions or change channels. What will happen a year from now.
Will we as the military continue to pine for the good-old-days of acetate overlays on maps? I do not discredit their value, I do however get concerned that we as an institutional-conglomerate of leaders are not too concerned that we are not at the forefront of this technological revolution!
With all this going on in the world today I wish I could see the military become a true LEADER in technological evolutions. This used to be the case, for instance, there is no contention that things from microwaves to cell-phones and radar were birthed from WWII in a nearly direct fashion.
So what are we doing to not only utilize what is being developed now, but push the envelope to do what we do FASTER in a MORE SYNCRONIZED fashion. Do we need MDMP apps? I dont know, but it is worth looking into?
I simply propose that the military makes whatever concessions it must in order to get the brightest (who are usually ambitious) minds from institutions like MIT to dedicate themselves to developing and seeking venture capital for technology that can take the military to the front of the modern and exponentially complex computing environment.
v/r,
MAJ Justin Agostine
Sir,
I don’t have any experience with new online leadership training programs, but I just completed the ILE L100 block (Redstone class 11-003). Given the current trends in toxic leadership, and a new generation of young officers growing up with a lack of mentoring, I think the CCC’s would benefit from the ILE level of leadership instruction. Some of the lessons in the L100 block would have to be toned down from the higher organizational focus, and should contain more discussion about mentoring and individual professionalism (and the Army Profession), but I feel that as a CPT at FACCC (in 2004) I would have been mature enough then to benefit greatly from the training I didn’t receive until now (16 years into my career.) There were several times during the L100 lessons that I found myself saying “Wow…it would have been nice to have this block of instruction before I was a Battery commander!” I know time limitations and training costs limit additions to PME courses, but given the current trends in toxic leadership, this would be money well spent.
As a personal example, I just completed a one year tour as an IG, and I determined that the root cause of most of my case trends was lack of adherence to published counseling requirements and leader development recommendations. Since it was a Joint assignment with several senior leaders, it was hard to make any recommendations that would stick, but my largest frustration was that there was no consistency in the published counseling and mentoring requirements between the services. The Army was better than most as far as written counseling “requirements”, however there was little adherence to these doctrinal recommendations and very little in the way of a leader development program. Not all of the senior leaders were toxic or worthless, but there was little to no focus from the top down on any kind of leader development and therefore it wasn’t done. As is too often the case, “Soldiers do what leaders check…” If the current crop of younger officers had come out of CCC with a stronger understanding of leader development, it may have helped to change the organization.
10-years of war with a very hectic ARFORGEN cycle have left little time for OPD’s and garrison leader development, so as the OPTEMPO slows, we need to be ready to focus on the leadership basics at the earliest opportunity to influence ALL officers…most likely at their next PME school.
Recommend a much more robust leadership training seminar at CCC, and increased instruction on leadership concepts and doctrine during BOLC.
-MAJ Daniel Morris
RSA ILE class 11-003
Sir,
It is my belief that you can’t just move the Armor Center down to the Mecca of Infantry Land at Fort Benning, and expect Combined Arms and Leadership training to happen spontaneously. The Combined Arms fight has to be commuted through digital, simulated, and boots-on-the-ground scenarios. The past 100 day model of what a leader needs to know at the BOLC level should be trashed, and a new POI constructed with Combined Arms at the Core of instruction.
I disagree with the aforementioned comments with regards to mentorship and the Army core beliefs, as it regards to the development of leadership.
First, before a Captain or above can mentor a Lieutenant on professional growth, he/she, must know the same for themselves, so, the mentorship program has to begin at the top of the chain and work itself down, so you don’t end up with a bottom-up quagmire of various professional beliefs.
Second, multiple locations for the Captains Career Course need to be designed at various locations around the Army. I have had four staff Captains in the last year, here at Fort Benning, that have a class wait date 18 months or longer before they can begin their progression. If this is to be the standard for Officer advanced education, then a ILE needs to be emplaced for Captains, so that they can keep their high level of motivation focused on being Commanders.
Third, if an Officer is unable to understand what is immoral, unethical, or illegal, then they need to be shown to the door at the early years of their career. A total lack of command and control, or a manure compost command climate needs to be identifiied and rectified before that individual is sent down range where soldiers depend on Officers to do what is right, even when nobody is looking.
SSG Whitener
As an officer in the United States Army, effective leadership is an obvious skill that needs to be developed and exercised. Prior to developing and exercising this skill, it must first be defined. In my opinion, leadership is the process of guiding or directing people through social influence in order to get them to accomplish a common task or attain a specified goal. Taking this definition into consider, I would state that my leadership philosophy results from my personal belief of doing what is right, my personal expectations of being approachable and democratic, and expecting high standards of my subordinates.
First of all, my personal belief is to always do the right thing. In order to achieve this, I value honesty, integrity and a strong moral code. Honesty is characterized by being truthful even when it may not seem advantageous and integrity is characterized by doing the right thing even when no one is looking nor can easily prove that you have been dishonest. A strong moral code helps one decide what is right and then honesty and integrity convict one to do that right thing. All of these character attributes require some internal fortitude that is not circumstantial, but is universal. This means that the right, and honest, thing is right in all circumstances and should not fit one situation without fitting another.
From a personal standpoint, I expect to be approachable, democratic the majority of the time, respectful and to do what I say I will do. I believe being approachable is one of the most important aspects of leadership because it aids in keeping communication lines open between subordinates and leaders. Being approachable includes actually opening the door, having people feel comfortable coming inside that door, and having people believe that what they say inside that door is truly being heard.
Sir I am very passionate about junior Leader Development (LD) and Mentorship in particular. The 2008 RAND Corp report done for the Army clearly shows that officers for decades have not been getting the basic counseling and coaching that is required so I am very skeptical (but hopeful) about the chances of a real shift in the Army’s culture regarding Mentorship. Per FM 6-22, all leaders are responsible for developing their junior leaders; however, most senior leaders that I have talked with say that they do a very poor job doing that. If leaders cannot make the time to do the basics then I have little confidence that leaders can voluntarily take on the deeply personal and demanding requirements of a Mentor.
For those interested in Mentorship, there is very little information, never mind training, available except for the Army’s G-1 website (which hasn’t been updated in 4-6 years and contradicts some of the changes in FM 6-22. For the hundreds of hours of ILE classes, not even one hour has been devoted to Mentorship yet I recently heard that twelve hours of Ethics are being added. No matter how busy I am, I will make time to Mentor or counsel my subordinates because it MUST get done, for their sake but also for mine. How can I delegate or spread my organizational influence if I do not trust or even know the capabilities of my subordinates? I hope before I retire that the Army will see that LD pays dividends now and in the future; moreover, LD should not happen by accident or through trial and error.
Thank you Sir for the discussion and I am at your call for further talks or action.
I agree that the results could be skewed by repeat votes. The survey question is really meant more to open a discussion about where we should go in the future. What are your thoughts? If gaming and simulators aren’t the right way to train, what is?
Col. Pat White, Deputy Commander
U.S. Army Combined Arms Center-Training
I’m just wondering how accurate the results of the simulations poll will be when one can vote multiple times? I can just see folks associated with the AVCATT, CCTT, Gaming programs etc, sitting at their desks voting for their particular system all day long and I’m not making that accusation, only saying that it would be possible. I’m afraid that the results are going to be wildly inaccurate.